3
Foreclosure problem mounting
A couple walking with their dog towards a foreclosed townhouse in Centreville, Va.
To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: While we keep talking about recovery, there are some aspects of the economy that just can't seem to shake this recession. Foreclosures keep mounting. And according to new numbers out from RealtyTrac, 360,000 homeowners were at least a month behind on their house payments
last month. Reporter Tamara Keith has more.
Tamara Keith: Here's another way to look at it: One in every 355 U.S. households is somewhere in the foreclosure process. RealtyTrac says foreclosure activity is up from June and way up from last year at this time. More than half a million people have lost their homes since January.
California, Arizona, Florida and Nevada continue to be the hardest hit. But Illinois saw a spike in activity last month as a foreclosure moratorium there ran out for some homeowners.
The continued rise in foreclosures comes even as the Obama administration ramps up its Making Home Affordable Program -- which aims to help borrowers in trouble by modifying their mortgages. RealtyTrac says unemployment is now a large factor in the foreclosure problem.
In Washington, I'm Tamara Keith for Marketplace.
Hi Steve and team, great show.
As you mentioned in your story, foreclosure numbers are mounting. How do you explain that home prices in some areas like California are already increasing?
I heard that banks are speculating with the number of homes released into the market because they've been released from paying taxes on their portfolio properties.
Is this true, can you comment? Thanks!
99% of professional economists (including Bernanke) failed to see the subprime mortgage crisis coming. They laughed at the notion that such a tiny portion of the economy could do this much damage. The same 99% have now declared the recession over. They want to stick a cigar in Bernanke's mouth and buy him a drink. I think that possibly late this fall, when the effects of the Alt-A tsunami begin to be perceived, that you will see the bulls turn bear in a stampede.
